1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automobile tire sanding device and more particularly to a device for applying abrasive materials under the driving wheels of motor vehicles to improve traction.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Drivers of motorized wheeled vehicles have long suffered from the problem of being unable to maneuver a vehicle in snow or ice or other surface which offers little traction. This problem is worsened when the vehicle is in a depression or on an incline. Through the years drivers have attempted to solve this problem by changing the road surface directly under the tire, such as by throwing sand underneath the wheel.
Many sanding devices for use with motorized wheeled vehicles are known, but most of them are complicated and involve permanent attachment to the vehicle. Nettles (U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,577) and Jones (U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,361) both disclose sanding devices in which a hopper, mounted to the outside of a vehicle, is operated by the driver. Hewitt (U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,991), Doud (U.S. Pat. No. 2,484,985) and Miller (U.S. Pat. No. 2,725,988) disclose sanding attachments in which hoppers are mounted interior of the vehicle and operated by the driver. All of these previous devices require mounting of apparatus on the vehicle.
Another type of device employs a burstable bag of abrasive or granular material and means to force the bag under the vehicle wheel. Kollmeyer (U.S. Pat. No. 2,438,563) has a protruding abrasive tab attached to a bag to be set against the wheel and drawn under the wheel. Aro (CAN 653,658 dated Dec. 11, 1962) is another example. A non-protruding tab is disclosed in Schaaf et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,791).
A variety of sheet-like structures are also known for improving traction. Ross (U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,405) discloses a non-burstable bag. Cannady et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,277), Preisler (U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,459), Bergquist (U.S. Pat. No. 3,350,013), Coale (U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,117) and Aro (CAN 715,939 dated Aug. 17, 1965) all disclose more-or-less flat track structures for improving traction. While integral traction-improving track structures can be easily stored, for example, by tossing them into the vehicle trunk, burstable bags are a storage problem. Contact with sharp objects and/or pressure will break the bags, spilling the enclosed sand, ash, salt and/or other material in the storage area. If moisture is then absorbed, the material may freeze as a solid block, rendering the bag unusable even though only small breaks may have occurred.
Any sheet-like structure extending from a burstable bag normally increases the exposure of the bag to accidental contacts and leakage. Although needed for pulling the bag under the wheel, the extending sheet itself is a source of accidental damage, especially if the sheet is made abrasive or is provided with sharp protrusions for better engaging a tire.